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HAWTHORN’S premiership hopes have been crushed
after a determined Kangaroos outfit outclassed the side by 33 points in the
second semi-final at the MCG on Saturday night.
The Kangaroos won the often untidy
encounter 14.9 (93) to 8.12 (60) in front of a crowd of 74,981, after leading
all night and finishing the match off with a five goals to two last term.
In similar fashion to last Saturday's
thrilling three-point come-from-behind win over Adelaide, the Hawks rallied
deep into the game and looked capable of staging another upset, but this time,
the deficit was just too big – and the opposition too strong – to put in a
repeat performance.
The Roos will now face Port Adelaide in
next Saturday's preliminary final, with the winner to progress through to the
Grand Final to meet the winner of Friday night's Geelong-Collingwood clash.
While retiring Kangaroos' hard man Glenn
Archer has been given at least one more opportunity to run out with his side,
the curtain has officially come down on the career of Hawks' skipper Richie
Vandenberg.
After a devastating performance on Andrew
McLeod last weekend, Vandenberg was faced with shutting down Daniel Wells, and
struggled to be as influential.
He ended his final game with nine
possessions, and after thanking the club's supporters for their years of
support, was given a guard of honour by the Roos as he left the field.
In an explosive second half, as the Hawks
got within two points early on after trailing by as much as 22, veteran Shane
Crawford was reported for striking Daniel Harris, and both sides made repeated
skill errors as the pressure of occasion took hold.
The Hawks faced a 17-point deficit at
three-quarter time, and as they stared down the barrel of elimination from the
finals race, came out firing in the fourth and snared the first goal through
Lance “Buddy” Franklin.
But the Roos – determined to atone for last
weekend's 106-point smashing by Geelong
– ran out the game stronger, and dominated the final stanza to hold the biggest
lead of the game at the final siren.
Brad Sewell was the Hawks' most effective
player with 29 possessions, while Jordan Lewis (31) and Brent Guerra (24) were
also busy. Robert Campbell handled himself admirably when pitted against the
talented Hamish McIntosh, and a sprayed shot in the final term aside, was one
of the Hawks' best.
But the side was simply lacking the
match-winning contributions it received from Franklin, Luke Hodge and Jarryd
Roughead last weekend, and struggled on the enormous semi-final stage against a
side intent on restoring its pride.
After the form their tall forwards showed
last week against the Crows, the Hawks would have entered the match with great
confidence in the abilities of Franklin and Roughead.
But opposed to Josh Gibson and Michael
Firrito respectively, the talented duo was kept to a minimal impact in the
first term, with Roughead snaring just the one goal from his two possessions and
Franklin held
completely statless.
Crawford looked intent on backing up his
dynamic elimination final early on with nine touches in the first term, while
Lewis also found plenty of the ball and Sewell picked up seven disposals while
opposed to Brent Harvey.
Without the tall timber up forward firing, Hawthorn
battled in the opening stages. And with the Roos getting on top in the
clearances throughout the first half, the Hawks found themselves eight points
down at both the first and long break.
The Roos gave themselves some breathing
space in the third after the Hawks became plagued by the kicking yips. Two late-term
majors to Aaron Edwards and Harvey left the Hawks with a 17-point difference to
reel in with a quarter to go.
Franklin nailed the first goal of the term, which had Hawks’ supporters on
their feet and envisioning a repeat of last Saturday. But the hard running way
the win over the Crows was achieved came back to haunt the Hawks, and they ran
out of legs when the Roos – in particular Harvey
– shifted up a gear.
KANGAROOS: 3.3, 5.5, 9.7, 14.9 (93)
HAWTHORN: 2.1, 4.3,
6.8, 8.12 (60)
Goals: Kangaroos:
Edwards 4, Harvey
4, Swallow, Petrie, McIntosh, McMahon, Wells, Grant. Hawthorn: Franklin 3, Roughead,
Boyle, Bateman, Guerra, Lewis.
Best: Kangaroos: Harvey, Smith, McIntosh,
Harris, Wells, Rawlings, Simpson, Firrito, Gibson. Hawthorn: Sewell, Lewis,
Campbell, Guerra, Brown, Ladson.
Injuries: Nil.
Reports: S Crawford
(Hawthorn) reported by field umpire M Vozzo for allegedly striking D Harris
(Kangaroos) in the third quarter).
Umpires: Vozzo, Rosebury, McLaren
Official crowd: 74,981 at the MCG
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